The Crescent has a rich history that goes back to 1925, when the train was inaugurated by Southern Railway. It was named after the "Crescent City" -- New Orleans -- and originally carried passengers from there to Montgomeery, Alabama. In 1970, Southern Railway combined the Crescent with the Southerner to form the Southern Crescent. Now in her 8th decade of service, today's Crescent still follows this path through Birmingham and Meridian to New Orleans.
Welcome aboard, and thank you for choosing the Amtrak Crescent. We are delighted to have you traveling with us. Please relax and enjoy our services that have been designed to assure your comfort. Be sure to let us know if there is anything we can do to make your trip more enjoyable!
You'll find this train is equipped with the latest in sleeping cars, modern, comfortable coaches and a dining car featuring home-style southern cuisine. Throughout your journey, you'll find the crew is a model of southern hospitality!
We hope you enjoy your journey with us into Crescent Country! This fascinating region is full of places you will want to discover. We've highlighted some of the main cities along the route here, and you'll find more exciting events inside.
The nation's capital is a city of many sights and diversions, from the White House to the Kennedy Center to the shops of historic Georgetown. Railroad buffs will want to stop by the Smithsonian Museum of American History, where you can see the green and gold 1401 locomotive that powered the Crescent between Atlanta and Washington from 1925 until 1941. Union Station itself is quite a site, with a bustling complex of shops, restaurants and theaters.
Host to the 1996 Centennial Summer Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, Atlanta is also home to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Historical Site, the famous "Underground Atlanta," -- a unique entertainment, shopping and dining center in the heart of downtown -- the World of Coca-Cola and the CNN Center.
The steel center of the South, Birmingham is the largest city of Alabama. Attractions include the Birmingham Museum of Art, the Birmingham Zoo and the Japanese Gardens. Overlooking the city from the summit of Red Mountain is Giuseppa Moretti's statue of Vulcan. At 55' and weighing 60 tons, Vulcan is the largest cast iron statue ever made.
Named for a leading Confederate diplomat, this is our last stop before reaching New Orleans. As we leave Slidell, the Crescent traverses the breathtaking 6.2 mile bridge over Lake Pontchartrain, the largest body of fresh water in Louisiana. When it was completed in 1886, the trestle was hailed as an engineering marvel, and it is still one of the longest railway bridges in the world.
The Crescent City gets its nickname from the crescent-shaped twist the Mississippi takes as it meanders through New Orleans. Founded by French settlers in 1718, the city still offers visitors an authentic view of its origins in the famed French Quarter. "New Orleans," said former Mayor Sidney Barthelemy, "is America's cultural treasure chest ... a city of distinctive cuisine, foot-stomping jazz, elegant architecture, and the most hospitable people in the world ... now that you have come, enjoy -- and take a little piece of our heart with you, wherever you go." From New Orleans, you can connect with Amtrak trains north to Chicago, west to Los Angeles and east to Florida.
Thanks for riding the Amtrak Crescent. We hope you've enjoyed your trip and will join us again soon.
